Matthew 12: 33-37
33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Did you catch that there in verse 36? We’ll give an account for every idle word in the day of judgment. Yikes!
We are followers of Christ. Love and blessings just pour out of our mouths as long as we’re awake, right? Yeah, not for me, though I try. I would love for Jesus to be heard through my words, be ready to offer an encouraging word or helpful scripture, or be praising my precious Savior every second of the day, but that’s just not reality. I’m human, and if you’re not an ai bot reading this, then so are you.
But here’s the thing. If we can get our words under control, I believe our whole world would change. You may hear it all the time, “Speak life, not death.” I agree with that. We completely underestimate the ordered work of monitoring spirits. Their job is to be nosy, report back on us, and hinder our progress. While it is important to watch the words you speak for that purpose, I believe there’s more to it.
What spills out of our mouths is an overflow of our thoughts. Our wicked hearts. Our battles with our flesh. What is growing (festering) inside of us and what we struggle with daily. We have to learn to take our thoughts captive. My husband, Adam, said, “We must bring our thoughts to Christ before the enemy can bring them to life.” So good. So TRUE. I’m not saying the enemy can read our minds, but the enemy can cause frustration throughout our day to make those bubbling thoughts come spewing out of our mouths in a hot second.
Take them captive. Rein them in or align them correctly. Pray them away. Whatever the situation, put them in their proper place, and sometimes, that is far away from your lips and the chance to be spoken.
One of my favorite sayings is, “Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.”
Let’s grow flowers, brothers and sisters. This is so important for a few key reasons.
First, our own spiritual battles can subside or rise up because of our words.
Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
What are we speaking for those monitoring spirits to hear? What are we inviting into our own lives because of our words? What are we complaining or murmuring about? God didn’t take too kindly to the Israelites murmuring all the time, did He?
Have you noticed how much more Holy Spirit-filled your worship time is when praise and honor are pouring from your heart through your lips? Words matter. Get that praise out there! Make your prayer requests heard. Secure that forgiveness through the blood of Jesus by asking for it. Say it. Shout it. Sing it. Cry it. The LORD can hear your prayers even when you think them, that’s true. Yet, how precious it is when it comes from your lips to His ears! What a testimony it is, and a punch in the gut, for the enemy to hear you talking with and worshiping your Savior! Make a joyful noise unto the LORD! Make a sorrowful cry. Have a conversation with Him. And by the way, don’t forget to listen for His words to you in those priceless moments.
Second, you can damage others in a heartbeat with your words. Just ask James.
Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Deadly poison. You’ve seen the demonstration, right? Get your kid to take a tube of toothpaste and squeeze it all out. Then ask them to put it back into the tube. They can’t. Just like the toothpaste, once words are out there, there’s no taking them back. I’ve torn others down and broken them with my words. I know I have. Sometimes it was intentional (not my finest hours), and sometimes it wasn’t. I’ve experienced situations where awful words came flying out my mouth in a sliver of a second. Forceful. Evil. Hurtful. Destructive. Devastating, even. And boy, was I horrified. Like the messy toothpaste all in the sink with no way to go back in the tube, there was no way to restore the situations in the moment. Those weapons of deadly poison (words) can make an impact lasting for years. Forever in some situations. We’ve all done it.
Let the LORD guide you in those situations. First, try to take your thoughts captive so they don’t come near your lips. Don’t come into agreement with thoughts that are not of God. It’s ok to say out loud, “I reject that idea,” or “I don’t come into agreement with that thought.” But if you don’t catch it quickly enough, and the ugly comes flying out of your mouth before you can stop it, ask the person on the receiving end for forgiveness. Say you’re sorry. Ask the LORD for forgiveness and to heal the damaged relationship. Restoration is possible with a sincere heart.
Third, and the most important reason. We will be held accountable for every idle word we speak. Think about this. Every idle word. I’m a chick. I’m mouthy. I’m a grumbler. I’m a blabbermouth at times. And let’s be honest, if my mouth doesn’t say it, my face will. I think we all know to not be gossiping and tearing others down, and probably ask for forgiveness when we fail in these areas. But what about the idle words?
The word idle in our passage from Matthew is ar-gos’, which is G692 in the Strong’s.
ar-gos’ From G1 (as a negative particle) and G2041; inactive, that is, unemployed; (by implication) lazy, useless: – barren, idle, slow.
Lazy, useless words. Unfruitful words. Sometimes, even vain babblings. We’ll answer for them all. Let’s try to think about our words and only speak those things that bring value to the conversation, that lift each other up, and make a difference for the Kingdom of God.
Your momma was right when she said, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” You know what that means? If we all did that, our days would be filled with silence! Think about how much is spoken around us in the workplace or on TV to get a laugh, make a joke, cut someone down, or to be useless entertainment. Idle words.
Let’s reflect on our thoughts and try to think before we speak. Let’s take those thoughts captive and put words far away from our lips if they are not profitable. If I must give an account for every idle word spoken, I’m going to be there for WEEKS unless I make this a focus in my life! I’m asking for forgiveness regularly for my idle, unprofitable, useless, and sometimes mean words. Remember my favorite saying about flowers and weeds? It all starts with seeds. When it’s time to give an account on judgment day for my words, I’d much rather be able to hand Jesus a beautiful bouquet of flowers, than a pitiful mound of weeds. What will your seeds become?
Fully immersed in The Scarlet Letters.